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A lot of ink has spilled in the media lately about the popularity of tattoos among Americans. Any stigma surrounding the ancient body art has long ago faded. Businesspeople, parents pushing strollers and college students are as likely to sport "tats" these days as the traditional clientele of military personnel or bikers.
No exact figures are available that outline the size of the tattoo industry in the U.S., but several years ago
estimated there were about 15,000 tattoo parlors in America, making somewhere north of $2.3 billion annually. And a says more than a third of Americans ages 18 to 25 have a tattoo, as well as 40% of folks in the 26 to 40 range. In contrast, the study found only about 10% of people age 41 to 64 are tattooed.
Another interesting note: Many tattoo businesses appear to be doing quite well, thank you, in spite of the economic downturn. "Things like tattoos, alcohol, entertainment -- they're always going to be there," says Joe Miller, owner of
in downtown Denver. "They make people feel good about themselves."
Miller says in November of 2008, "when things really hit hard in the stock market, I actually had one of the best Novembers of my career." He opened his high-end shop on Larimer Street a year later and has still found business to be good.
At the Least, It's Recession-Resistant
Even as the stock market was bottoming, he remembers, "a couple came in, and they both got very large, very expensive tattoos from me. The recession was a big topic back then, and they started talking. And they were like, 'Well, we lost about a quarter-million dollars in the past week, so what's another two-thousand?' I wouldn't say our industry is recession-proof," he says, "but it's definitely a lot more resistant than other luxury industries."
Tattoo artists usually work on commission, giving 40% or more of their fee to the shop owner. Miller estimates that by working his own business with a partner, he's doubled his earlier income and is currently taking home about $125,000 annually.
Miller's career may be the exception, however. He says his tattoo artist colleagues average about $50,000 a year, and a good number scrape by on less than half that. "I have friends just getting into the industry that are starving," he says. But the tattoo business is definitely tilting in favor of upscale clients. In another part of Denver,
owner Scottie DeVille has nine artists on staff, up from four when he started the shop in 2002. "Since we've opened, our profits have increased about 10% per year," DeVille says in an email. "In 2008, the average hourly [rate per artist] was $120. Today the average is $150/hr."
When Inspiration Turns to Regret
Some in the tattoo business believe the boom is due in part to a more professional generation of trained artists doing better work. But Joe Miller notes that in the past three to four years, his clientele has included a growing number of middle-age suburbanites. "A lot of tattoo artists like to attribute [the increase to] reality-TV tattoo shows," he says. "Of course, they bad-mouth [these shows], but the reality [is they] took the tattoo industry to a whole other demographic. That person watching TV, that normally would never even think about getting a tattoo, is all of the sudden like, 'you know what? I want to do that.' It inspires them."
Of course, that inspiration sometimes turns into regret. The points to a 2004 survey, which found nearly one-fifth of people with tattoos had considered getting their body art removed. And the costs of turning that tattoo into a distant memory aren't cheap. "Our average client spends between $800 and $1,200 to get a tattoo removed," says Shelley Novello, founder and CEO of
Precision Laser Tattoo Removal. "The typical tattoo takes about a year-and-a-half to remove. Some come out in one time. Most take closer to five or six treatments." Novello says her Denver offices see about 200 people a month.
"I began my business because I was watching my older teenage children start to put tattoos on," she says, "and I started to wonder how are they going to get a real job some day, with ink showing from their elbows down." Novello signed up for classes in laser removal of tattoos and started a new career. "There were a couple of places in town that offered tattoo removal [but were] extremely expensive," she says. "So I thought, where do the normal people go? And there really wasn't an option. So I threw together a business plan, cashed-out my 401(k) and quit my real job -- and that was almost five years ago."
Business, she says, is doing well -- although she's currently operating at about 30% of capacity. "Tattoo removal is probably at the very bottom of most people's priority lists when they have to make a car payment or buy groceries," she says. "So like most of the other personal-service industries we had a rough year-and-a-half."
"Perfect Alignment of the Planets"
But Novello is still banking on the fact that a lot of people seem to suffer from "tattoo remorse" as they get older. Her typical client is between the age of 28 and 35, middle class, professional -- and equally divided between women and men.
"You see all these tattoos running around, and you think tattoo removal must be such a lucrative business right now," she says. "But really it [takes an] almost perfect alignment of the planets. You've got to get somebody that hates their tattoos enough, that's willing to come in the front door, that's willing to go through the time it takes, that's willing to spend money. It's almost like a perfect storm that has to happen, to get that client to come through the door."
Right now, the winds seem to be blowing far more people into doors of tattoo artists' shops.
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Most PopularWhat does the Bible say about getting tattoos? | Beyond Today
What does the Bible say about getting tattoos?
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What does the Bible say about getting tattoos?
Consider how you will feel about the decision&later in&life.
Tattooing has been around for centuries and this practice has enjoyed a popular resurgence, especially among young people, in recent years. The reasons vary. Some get tattoos to show independence and rejection of parental values. Others get them because of peer pressure or because they believe they are stylish—a type of body adornment and&beautification.
As for God’s instruction regarding tattoos, the Bible does not specifically address the modern practice of tattooing as body adornment. While
You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks on you: I am the LORD.says,
“You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor tattoo any marks on you: I am the Lord,” most scholars believe these practices were related to mourning for the&dead.
Nelson’s Illustrated Bible Dictionary’s article on tattoos&says,
“Any kind of self-laceration or marking of the body was prohibited among the Hebrew people. Such cuttings were associated with pagan cults that tattooed their followers while they mourned the dead”&(1986).
Apparently, these people cut themselves and disfigured their bodies as a way of appeasing the anger of their gods and hoping to find some help for the deceased. God did not want His people getting involved in these pagan rituals because these practices led people away from Him. While death is always a sad time, God’s people are not to “sorrow as others who have no hope” ( But I would not have you to be ignorant, brothers, concerning them which are asleep, that you sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.).
While it is unlikely that people today get tattoos to mourn the dead, there are other biblical principles that indicate that getting a tattoo is inappropriate for&Christians.
Several scriptures instruct Christians to take special care of their bodies. For example,
If any man defile the temple of God, him shall G for the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.says, “If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.” Also,
19 What? know you not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which you have of God, and you are not your own?
20 For you are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.
adds that our bodies belong to God, and that we are to glorify Him in body and&spirit.
Unfortunately, dangerous diseases have been transmitted by improper sanitation of the needles used in tattooing. An article in the
USA Weekend
magazine of Aug. 5, 2001, quotes a study by the University of Texas showing that those who have been tattooed are nine times more likely to be infected with hepatitis C, a dangerous virus. The study urged those who have been tattooed in the last 10 years to be checked for the disease because it is often dormant for years before being detected. The dyes used in the tattooing process may also be detrimental to one’s health (Andrew Osborn, “Health Risks Warning on Body Art Dyes,”
The Guardian , July 18,&2003).
King Solomon provides an additional lesson to be considered before making an important decision, saying, “The end of a thing is better than its beginning” ( Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof: and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.). In other words, consider how you will feel about the decision years&later.
For people who get tattoos when they are young, many later regret their decision. It is “estimated that between 17-50% eventually regret having their body tattoo” (tattooremovalinstitute.org). Many of these people eventually undergo operations to have their tattoos removed, but these procedures are not always successful. Scarring and skin variations commonly&remain.
Finally, we should bear in mind that God wants Christians to come out of and be separate from the world around us ( Why come out from among them, and be you separate, said the Lord, and touch n and I will receive you.;
And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that you be not partakers of her sins, and that you receive not of her plagues.). We are to reflect God’s values and His thinking. Because of these reasons, we strongly advise that people do not get tattoos. If a person already has a tattoo before becoming a Christian, he or she is not required to have it&removed.
Mission Statement:
The mission of the Church of God is to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God in all the world, make disciples in all nations and care for those disciples.
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